For better or for worse we have the exciting world of the internet and social networking. Its a necessary tool for me to market my artwork. Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger have reached a larger audience for my work than I ever could by just doing shows. Its impossible to travel and sell work. With the internet comes opportunity. But it also brings with it a daily hassle. I would love nothing more to go Amish every weekend and shut down the computer. Its like a different planet sometimes. I attempted to stay offline all weekend but getting up my web shop is slightly impossible to do if I'm not online. Marketing the next open studio would also be impossible. So here I am on a Sunday morning dealing with internet la la land. Here is what I love and what I hate about the bizarre world wide web...
I like that:
I can market my work for free and I control the content.
I sell artwork by simpling clicking and posting in on Facebook.
Through twitter and blogger I have formed relationships with other ceramic artists I admire. The same can be said with galleries. I would have never "met" these people without these tools.
You are ACCOUNTABLE. Once you post it, its there. No taking it back. Its a diary whether be written or visual like the majority of this blog.
And lastly and the most shallow reason of all, online shopping. You can buy my artwork. I can avoid the mall. We all win.
I hate that:
I am at a computer for so much of my day. I'm a potter. I want to make a mug. Not always have to tweet I made a mug and now its on etsy then go post it on Facebook. I would rather just be making.
People think that the internet world is a true indication of the real world. Get a life. Social networking doesn't make you social. Going to see an art opening, selling your work at a show or taking in a museum is social. Tweeting the entire time you are at one of these events is NOT.
Defamation of character. Look up the word "libel". If you have a problem with a gallery that's one thing. Naming names is another. Social networking should be used for positive marketing of whatever it is you are selling.
And the last thing I hate is the dissection of everything your write, tweet, etc. For example today's Facebook status update is simply "Sunday Studio Therapy". Its simple, its Sunday and working in my studio is like therapy to me. However some people like to take your updates dissect them and then dissect those parts. This is the hardest for me because I've done it. Social networking is slowly becoming a battlefield for the passive aggressive. I had to sit down this weekend and reevaluate and decide why I'm really on such sites. Its goes back to accountability. I need to use these sites for what I initially set out to do. Not mud wrestle via internet.
Time to take my own advice. Off to do things in the real world this afternoon. Consider it a quick nap in the world of social networking.
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